Posted by Duncan on May 02, 2018 at 03:53:20 user Duncan.
In Reply to: Re: Breaking the fourth wall posted by Mike Jones on May 01, 2018 at 13:15:52:
There's quite a lot of that, especially in the (abandoned) original opening of Peter Duck, of course. Like the "this is what it's like when it's really pitchy dark" illustration.
I think that is almost the opposite of the "fourth wall" in that it is putting the writing of the story into the realm of fiction too (especially with PD and ML, I suppose). It's a fairy-tale method of course, like Old Peter telling tales to his grandchildren, or Tolkien being handed the Baggins' book by an old hobbit and translating it for a modern audience.
I'm fascinated by it, not least because, in the hands of AR and JRRT it seems like rather an old-fashioned, or rather timeless approach to storytelling, yet also in the 20th century similar devices in the hands of writers for adults were seen as highly contemporary and experimental.
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